


And Milkshakes to Smooth the Way

by desert_neon (sproutgirl)



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Kid Fic, M/M, Meet the Family, Texting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-14
Updated: 2017-03-14
Packaged: 2018-10-05 03:20:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10296326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sproutgirl/pseuds/desert_neon
Summary: Clint isn't ready to meet Phil's family. The younger generation of Phil's family, however, is ready to meet him.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for the Imagine ClintCoulson community on tumblr.
> 
> dellastreet1933 asked:  
> So I'm gonna be an Auntie! In honor of that I'd love a fic involving Phil's niblings meeting "Uncle" Clint. And maybe them giving Clint the shovel talk too.

Clint stared morosely into his milkshake, stabbing at a lump a couple times with his straw. He didn’t begrudge Phil his time off, but it sucked that he had to eat lunch alone. He could have stayed at HQ and just grabbed something from the cafeteria, but he’d somehow felt like that would be _more_ lonely than going by himself to their favorite diner, not less.

He might have been wrong about that.

The bell over the door jingled and Clint looked up out of habit, assessing any potential threat and pretending a tiny part of him wasn’t hoping for Phil to magically appear. It was just a bunch of kids, though—siblings, if he had to guess, judging by the age range.

He looked back down into his chocolate banana shake, suddenly wishing he hadn’t ordered such a big meal. He wasn’t really all that hungry. 

Despite his crappy mood, his brain automatically clocked the movements of everybody in the diner—the waitress delivering food to a table, another taking an order at the counter, the cook behind the line, flipping what was probably Clint’s burger, and the couple getting up to pay—so it wasn’t really a surprise when he looked up to find the four kids hovering at the edge of his booth, with expressions ranging from pissed off (the lone boy, about twelve, who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there) to covetous (the youngest girl, about five, who was staring at his milkshake) to beaming (the middle girl, about nine, who smiled at him like meeting him was the best part of her day) to determined (the oldest girl, about fifteen, who glared at him with no hint of concession).

And, yeah. Clint knew these kids. He’d never met them, but he knew them. He’d seen pictures, locked away in Phil’s apartment, brought out only on birthdays and holidays, when Phil couldn’t be with his family no matter how much he wanted to be.

“Uh,” Clint said, sounding oh so intelligent. “Hi?”

“Clint Barton?” the oldest (Chloe) asked.

“Yeah. And you’re Chloe Coulson.”

Chloe nodded, but before she could say anything else, her middle sister spoke up. “I’m Fiona!”

Clint couldn’t help but smile in the face of that grin. “Hi, Fiona. It’s nice to meet you.”

Was it, though? The whole point of Phil taking a few days off without Clint was that Clint hadn’t been ready to meet Phil’s brother, Phil’s brother’s wife, or their perfect, four-kid family. Phil had carefully hinted around the subject, and Clint had carefully made it clear he was declining, and when Phil had announced his brother’s family was coming for a visit, they’d both pretended it was a complete surprise. Phil had put in for three days off, alone, and Clint had told him to have fun and to think of him toiling away back at Headquarters while Phil got to play tourist with his family.

“I’m Millie,” the youngest announced, looking away from his milkshake long enough to shoot him a grin.

“Hey, Millie. You want some?” he asked, sliding the glass her way. 

She grabbed it eagerly and mumbled her thanks around the straw. Fiona seemed a bit put out about that, but before she could ask, Millie handed it to her with a grin while Chloe nudged James with her elbow.

“James,” he grunted, still very obviously displeased.

“Yeah, nice to meet you, James,” Clint replied, getting a disinterested snort in return. “So, uh. What are you guys doing here?”

“Why didn’t you want to meet us?” Chloe asked, her voice tight and gaze determined.

“What?” Clint hadn’t known what to expect, but it certainly hadn’t been that.

“Why didn’t you want to meet us?” Chloe repeated. “Uncle Phil said you weren’t ready, but you guys have been going out for, like, _years_ , and you should _be_ ready. You’re making Uncle Phil sad.”

“I’m not . . .” Clint trailed off, not sure what he could say to defend himself. “Wait, no. We’ve only been going out for a few months.” He thought back, counting the time. “Eight. Eight months.”

“Please,” Chloe scoffed, while the two youngest girls happily shared the milkshake with their brother. “He’s been talking about you since I was ten.”

“Well, I don’t know what to tell you, kid. We’ve been friends a long time, but we only started dating eight months ago.”

“You still should have wanted to meet us,” Fiona said, her little face now lined with a hint of sadness. “We’re awesome.”

Clint couldn’t have kept his grin hidden if he’d tried. “I know you are. Phil tells me about your awesomeness all the time.”

That seemed to appease her, and her smile returned.

Millie, however, was not so easily won, even with a milkshake. “Then why didn’t you want to meet us?” she asked, the same sadness that had shown on her sister’s face tinging her voice.

“I’m . . .” Clint rubbed the back of his neck, chagrined in the face of her disappointment. “I’m not that good with families?” he offered with a wry grin. “I didn’t . . . I mean, I . . . Sorry?”

Chloe harrumphed at him. “You should still _try_. You won’t _get_ good with families if you never try to be part of one.”

“He _is_ part of one,” Fiona insisted, making Clint’s heart clench with something he couldn’t quite identify.

“So he should _act_ like it,” Chloe said, her displeased stare still aimed straight at him.

“Oh, leave him alone,” James said suddenly. “This was a stupid idea, anyway. Uncle Phil said it was fine, so it’s fine.”

“What do you know?” Chloe asked, with all the scathing wisdom that comes from being fifteen years old. “‘Fine’ never means ‘fine’ in a relationship. It means ‘it’s _not_ fine, but I’m pretending like it is.’”

“So? Let him pretend it’s fine. You just wanted to stick your nose in, and now we’re gonna get in trouble.”

Fiona looked round at that, the straw dropping from her mouth. “Are we gonna get in trouble?”

“No,” Clint said firmly, coming to a decision and slipping his phone out of his pocket. “Sit down, you guys, order some food. I’ll handle the adults.” He scrambled over into the corner of the booth as the two little girls immediately crowded in next him, and James and Chloe slid in on the other side. He waved the waitress over and asked for menus while he texted Phil.

_Come to the diner._

_Can’t,_ came the reply. _Slight family emergency happening._

Clint grinned at the screen, then switched to the camera application. He lifted his phone up high and took a picture, making sure to get all four faces eagerly accepting menus from the waitress. He sent the picture and typed out again: _Come to the diner._

_I’m going to kill them._

“Can I get a milkshake?” Millie asked, and Clint’s smile widened.

 _Nah. They were just looking out for their Uncle Phil._ “Yes,” Clint told her. “As long as I get mine back.” The glass was immediately passed back to him, with a hell of a lot less chocolate and banana goodness inside. _Just get here,_ he added, noticing Phil had yet to respond. _We’ll have milkshakes waiting._

**Author's Note:**

> From the Imagine ClintCoulson community on tumblr:  
> We are always accepting new prompts at our tumblr account, so feel free to drop by with a little headcanon or ask.


End file.
